Leadership Held Accountable to Justice

What makes the news from Sierre Leone significant, involves national leaders being held accountable to their criminal past!

Victims of brutal war rejoice at Taylor sentencing

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Amputees still struggling to lead normal lives years after being mutilated by rebels in Sierra Leone, hailed the decision by judges at The Hague on Wednesday to sentence the man who backed those rebels, ex-Liberian President Charles Taylor, to 50 years in prison.

In a landmark ruling by the Special Court on Sierra Leone last month, Taylor became the first former head of state since the aftermath of World War II to be convicted. The 64-year-old Taylor was found guilty on 11 counts of aiding and abetting the Revolutionary United Front rebels in Sierra Leone, who murdered and mutilated tens of thousands of people during this country's 11-year brutal civil war which ended in 2002.


I doubt this will "strike fear" in the leaders of other nations, like Syria right now where horrendous atrocities are being reported daily, but perhaps it will give some leaders reason to pause and consider their choices. 

I doubt the punishment fits the crime and I genuinely hope for the idealism of a future where nation will no longer rise up against nation.

Toward eupan ~

~ marty alan michelson, ph.d.

Posted via email from Eupan Global Initiative

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